Language as a social practice

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Language as a social practice

• Academic Essay

EED112
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How the essay will be structured

• Introduction
• Body of the essay
• Discussion topic 1 Discourse communities
• Discussion topic 2 Primary discourse
  communities
• Discussion topic 3 secondary discourse
  communities
• Discussion topic 4 Acquisition and learning
• Discussion topic 5 Scaffolding
• Discussion topic 6 The Zone of Proximal
  Development
• Discussion topic 7 The Teacher Learning Cycle
• Conclusion
• Reference

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Introduction

• State the background to the question - For
  example every person comes from a different
  background and has grown up in different
  communities. These communities teach people
  specific things relevant and specific to these
  groups about literature.
• Purpose Why? For example within a classroom
  there are many children who have come from these
  different groups called discourse communities and
  have learnt specific ways of using literacy
  therefore not all the children would be familiar
  to literacy practices used at school.
• Scope - What I will do I will show that by
  implementing teaching strategies teachers can
  develop literacy practises with the children. Key
  concepts are named here and will be expanded upon
  later for example acquisition, learning, the Zone
  of Proximal Development and the Teacher Learning
  Cycle.

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Primary Discourse Communities

• State a topic sentence
• Give a definition for example Primary discourse
  is the group a child is born into or initially
  socialised into. This group provides the initial
  ways children use language, the way they think
  and act. Usually, little choice is involved in
  becoming a member of a particular primary
  discourse community.
• Relate this point back to literacy practices

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Secondary Discourse Definition

• Have a topic sentence introducing the topic
• Give a definition secondary groups as more
  publicly orientated and therefore they require
  the members to act according to the ways in which
  such a discourse communities allow. These
  discourses include schools, workplaces and
  universities
• Give an example of secondary discourse that have
  there own literacy practices for example
  children may join a tennis squad, with no
  experience or knowledge in the sport. The child
  therefore initially would be an outsider to the
  group, because they would not understand some
  literacy practises of the students, such as
  jargon.
• State how this example relates to literacy
  practices.

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Acquisition and Learning

• State a topic sentence
• Give a definition of both of the concepts
  Acquisition is the process where information and
  knowledge is acquired subconsciously by contact
  with models, and a process of trial and error,
  without the person having any formal teaching.
  Learning however is conscious and in order to
  learn a person must take an active part in the
  learning process.
• Expand on both of the topics and give examples of
  how they are used in the family and the school
  context. For example shopping with a family
  member demonstrates acquisition, while in the
  classroom a child learns mathematical concepts by
  active learning.
• Explain how this relates to literacy development
  in the classroom and its relevance to discourse
  communities and children's backgrounds.

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Scaffolding

• Topic sentence to introduce scaffolding
• Give a definition Scaffolding is where an expert
  provides support and assistance to learners so
  they can acquire new understandings, abilities,
  and concepts. When the learner is competent in
  these areas the expert withdraws the support, and
  then aims to support new goals or abilities.
• Give a example for example, a teacher may be
  talking about countries in the world and ask the
  children to write an essay on any country they
  would like. For many children this would be a
  struggle, for they would be unsure of the format
  of an essay.
• Relate this example back to literacy development
  and how scaffolding could be used in the example
  for example teachers, therefore, need to have a
  excellent understanding of the capabilities of
  their students, and to ensure that activities are
  truly effective, support needs to be continually
  altered to ensure that childrens needs in the
  classroom are met. A teacher, in the example, who
  uses scaffolding, would need to explain before an
  activity the steps and structure of an essay, so
  the children would be able to achieve the task
  successfully.

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The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

• Start with a topic sentence introducing the ZPD
• Give a definition for example the ZPD is used
  to suggest that in relation to education, there
  are upper and lower levels within which learning
  can occur. If the instruction is too high the
  learner is likely to fail, to get frustrated or
  to become inattentive. On the other hand, if the
  level of instruction is too low the child has no
  challenge and therefore isnt developing skills
  that are important.
• Give an example of using the ZPD in a classroom
  for example some children may need written
  directions or discussion time in class so they
  know how to write a poem correctly.
• While making reference to the example state how
  using the ZPD teachers can help develop literary
  practices

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The Teacher Learning Cycle (TLC)

• Start with a topic sentence introducing the TLC
• Give a definition for example The TLC uses five
  stages necessary for literacy development. The
  stages include the engagement, building
  knowledge, transformation, presenting and
  reflecting stages which, when followed correctly
  create an excellent structure for teaching.
• State how a teacher can improve literacy
  development if the TLC is used for example The
  TLC provides a structure for teachers to plan
  their lesson around. If the teacher, while
  planning a lesson, followed the criteria in each
  of the five stages, then the lesson should be
  effective in supporting literacy development.

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Conclusion

• State how all the topics discussed relate to the
  question for example In conclusion, within a
  classroom there are many children with different
  backgrounds, and from many different discourses
  communities. Each child therefore has learnt
  different literacy practices and is at different
  levels of ability within the classroom. Therefore
  within a classroom, assistance needs to be given
  to children to help them become insiders to
  Discourse communities by helping them learn the
  literacy practises of the groups. By using
  teaching strategies such as scaffolding, the ZPD,
  acquisition and learning, the TLC, and
  implementing these strategies, teachers can
  support literacy development.

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Reference List

• Gee, J.P 1991, What is literacy, Rewriting
  literacy, Mitchell, C Weiler, K (eds), Beigin
  Ganey New York.
• Knobel, M 1999, Everyday Literacies discourse
  and social practice, Peter Lang, New York.
• Barratt-Pugh, C Rahl, M 2000, Literacy Learning
  in the early years, Allen and Unwin Crows Nest.
• Hammond, J (ed) 2001, Scaffolding, Teaching and
  learning in language and literacy education,
  Primary English Teaching Association, Newtown.
• John-Steiner, V Mahn, H 2003, Sociocultural
  Approaches to Learning and Development A
  Vygotskian Framework, 14th May 2004,
  ltHttp//webpages.charter.net/schmolzel/vygotsky/jo
  hnsteiner.htmlgt
• Love, K, Pigdon, K, Baker G, Hamston, J 2002,
  Built Understandings in Literacy and Teaching CD
  Rom, 2nd ed, Universtity Of Melborne, scn 1B, 6